-->Iran and Syria hit back over Rumsfeld threat

IAN MATHER TOM CURTIS


THE spectre of war spreading beyond Iraq’s borders loomed large last night after Iran - part of President Bush’s"axis of evil" - joined Syria in angrily rejecting US accusations of interference.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has warned Tehran it will be held responsible for the actions of hundreds of Iranian revolutionaries of the Badr Corps who have crossed the border into Iraq.

He had already told Syria it would be held accountable for"hostile actions" if trafficking of military equipment into Iraq continued.

Iran dismissed the warning as"propaganda" and insisted it remained neutral, joining Syrian condemnation of American threats as an attempt to cover up"war crimes".

Anger also continued to grow in the Islamic world following the latest television reports of large-scale civilian casualties in Baghdad.

In Turkey - a Nato ally of the US - American troops were stoned by villagers as they tried to retrieve pieces of a cruise missile which came down in the east of the country on Friday.

And the US was forced to admit that several cruise missiles fired towards Iraq had landed in Saudi Arabia, where Muslim clerics have begun leading prayers for Iraqi victory. Cruise missile flights over the country have been suspended.

US officials fear the movement of Iranian Badr Corps fighters into Iraq could further complicate the war effort.

They suspect the Iranian fighters want to create a zone of influence in Iraq which would give them control of oil fields and act as a buffer against future American aggression.

The corps is the military wing of the Supreme Assembly for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), the main Iran-based Iraqi opposition movement. According to diplomatic sources, it is a trained fighting force with between 10,000 and 15,000 men.

SAIRI is one of many anti-Saddam groups that make up the Iraqi opposition, which the US has been cultivating up to now. Officially, Iran is neutral.

But Bush has bracketed Iran with Iraq and North Korea on his"axis of evil" list, and Iranian leaders are worried that if the attack on Iraq succeeds they might be next, hence the need for a buffer zone.

But Iranian government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh dismissed Rumsfeld’s comments."The Badr Brigade’s decisions have nothing to do with Iran. They are independent, like any other Iraqi opposition group," he said.

"Rumsfeld is making propaganda to cover up his lack of success in this war. We won’t go into this meaningless war, neither for or against either side."

Rumsfeld also said the US had information that military supplies, including night goggles, were being taken from Syria into Iraq.

For its part, Syria believes it was misled when it became the only Arab member of the UN Security Council to vote for Resolution 1441, which paved the way for the resumption of weapons inspections in Iraq. It said it did so on assurances that this would avoid a war.

Last week Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said he hoped the US would fail to oust Saddam. He predicted that Washington would become bogged down in Iraq as it did in Vietnam, or be forced to abandon the country as happened in the 1980s in Lebanon.

Although Syria is not included in the"axis of evil", it is on the US State Department’s list of countries supporting terrorism, and, like Iran, it fears becoming a target in Washington’s"war on terrorism".

Syria dismissed the allegations of arms shipments, saying the US was"covering up the failure of American forces".

Last night, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell said Rumsfeld’s comments would be an embarrassment to Tony Blair, who had attempted to forge closer relations with Syria.

Campbell said:"We could do without too much loose talk about Syria. The inference behind Mr Rumsfeld’s remarks appears to be that Syria might be next in line."

Former defence minister Doug Henderson, a leading Labour backbench opponent of the war, said:"All I can see is a major escalation, with all the risks of involving Syria, Iran and Turkey, or a ceasefire and a withdrawal and I think a ceasefire and withdrawal is by far the better way forward."

In Turkey, scores of people in Urfa province yesterday set upon four Jeeps carrying American soldiers, throwing eggs and stones, breaking windows and shouting anti-war slogans.

Sukru Kocatepe, governor of Urfa province, said a Tomahawk cruise missile, launched from a US Navy ship in the Mediterranean, had fallen in the sparsely populated area, gouging a deep hole but without exploding.

Some 90% of Turks are against the war and the people of the impoverished east, fearing further falls in living standards, say they have much to lose from the conflict.

Saudis too are seething at scenes of destruction and killing in Iraq, and clerics are calling for holy war against the US.

Countries further afield may also be tempted to help Iraq if the war drags on, while helping themselves to profits.

According to reports, Russian company Aviaconversiya already has technicians in Iraq, helping Saddam’s forces deploy jamming equipment to confuse allied aircraft and guided weapons. Two other Russian firms have sold Iraq anti-tank missiles and night-vision goggles.

Since most Russian industry, including large sections of its armaments industry, is privatised, the Russian government might not be able to control it effectively.

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